Previous
Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Long Walk to Freedom, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism and Division
Negotiation, Democracy, and Progress
Nonviolent Protest vs. Violent Protest
The Value of Optimism
Summary
Analysis
At age 19, Mandela goes with Justice to study at Healdtown, which was at the time the largest African school south of the equator. The school follows a strict schedule. Mandela gets appointed to prefect in his second year there. One day, he sees about 15 other students urinating off a veranda. One of them is a fellow prefect. Prefects are not supposed to report one another, so after considering, Mandela decides that since it wouldn’t be fair to exclude the prefect, he doesn’t report any of them.
A prefect is a student who enforces rules over other students. The presence of prefects at Mandela’s school shows the influence of the British education system. This passage reveals that Mandela has values that go beyond strictly following his duties—he believes in equality so strongly that he would rather let all of the students go free than let only one escape punishment. This also demonstrates Mandela’s sense of mercy.
Themes
In Mandela’s final year at Healdtown, the famous Xhosa poet Krune Mqhayi comes to campus. Mandela is initially disappointed at how normal he looks. But as he continues speaking, he makes Mandela reconsider some of the things he believes about the White men who teach at his school. Mqhavi starts by talking about African unity but ultimately ends up praising the Xhosa as best. Mandela himself is confused about his identity but graduates thinking of himself as Xhosa first, African second.
Once again, this passage shows how young Mandela has yet to fully develop his political beliefs. Initially, Mandela seeks out acceptance in the British-influenced school system. While Mandela in some ways presents the school as a triumph of what African people can accomplish, he also begins to realize the limits of his education. It’s fitting that a poet, someone from the arts rather than from a traditional academic subject, teaches Mandela to begin thinking in unconventional ways.
Themes
